Why APJ Kalam's birth anniversary is celebrated as World Students' Day

October 15 of every year is celebrated as World Students' Day in honour of former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, who was born on the same day in 1931. The day aims to acknowledge the efforts of Kalam towards education and students.

The United Nations declared October 15 as World Students' Day in 2010. Every year the world body decides a theme to mark the observance of the day. This year, the theme for World Students' day is "Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace”, which aims to reaffirm the role of education as a fundamental right of every person across the world.

Born in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Kalam studied science and physics during the early years of his life. Kalam dedicated his life to teaching and inspiring students to become the best version of themselves through his insightful lectures. He was also called the ‘Missile Man of India' for spearheading the development of the most significant Indian missiles and the country's civilian space programmes.

He occupied some of the very distinguished positions as an administrator with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

In 2002, the aerospace scientist became the 11th president of the country. Kalam served the office till 2007 and dedicated his life to teaching after that. He became the visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Shillong, IIM- Ahmedabad and IIM-Indore.

Dr Kalam was also awarded India’s highest civilian honour or the Bharat Ratna. He was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan for his work as the scientific advisor to the government of India.

Kalam breathed his last on July 27, 2015, while delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong when he collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest. Years after his demise, his contributions are still remembered as some of the best scientific and technological developments in the country.